This Sundays New York Times carried two separate stories on issues involving the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic. One story involved the perennial issue of oil extraction in Alaskan game reserves. The more interesting story involved the impact on polar bear habitat on Hudson's Bay, due to the 30 year trend of earlier ice-out and later freeze up, on the Bay. The photo of a polar bear sitting upright adjacent to the Churchill MB "Tundra Buggy" bus filled with tourists is very jarring. My caption would have been "Waiting for the Bus/Waiting for the Ice". Relevance to Paddlewise? Conservation of a very big "marine mammal" not suitable for "petting". The dim prospect (and depressing idea) that the fabled Northwest Passage , may eventually become a feasible summer "open-water route" for tankers. Hey. I'm a sucker for any article that mentions Arviat, Nunavut, which is the end point of our planned Thlewiaza River trip next summer. My body and mind seems to have already forgotten the physical abuse of last summer's Hiukitak trip! What is it about the start of winter that softens the memory of grueling summer expeditions? Rich Dempsey Polar Bears and Climate Change on Hudsons Bay: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/12/business/12OILL.html Alaskan Arctic Coast story: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/12/business/12OILL.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ See our canoe tripping website http://communities.msn.com/RichWendysAwayFromHomePage *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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